USS Investment Management Ltd Sells 4,963 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

USS Investment Management Ltd reduced its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 73,808 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 4,963 shares during the quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Paychex were worth $10,352,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Paychex by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,521,025 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,419,878,000 after purchasing an additional 174,817 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 26,905,031 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,772,544,000 after purchasing an additional 166,155 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,044,631 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,408,458,000 after buying an additional 519,761 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,541,034 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,339,463,000 after buying an additional 126,962 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Paychex by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,807,554 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $674,115,000 after buying an additional 694,651 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 11.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX traded up $2.31 on Tuesday, hitting $158.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 408,206 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,920,159. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.40 and a 12 month high of $158.52. The firm has a market cap of $57.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $148.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $146.30.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a $1.08 dividend. This is a positive change from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Cfra Research raised Paychex to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $141.00.

Paychex Profile

Paychex, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated human capital management solutions (HCM) for payroll, benefits, human resources (HR), and insurance services for small to medium-sized businesses in the United States, Europe, and India. It offers payroll processing services; payroll tax administration services; employee payment services; and regulatory compliance services, such as new-hire reporting and garnishment processing.